Policy

Policy 1. The Law Enforcement Officers Training Program created the board for the primary purpose of developing and implementing guidelines for the selection and training of law enforcement officers. Accordingly, the legislature mandated that the board authorize, but only from such funds authorized and appropriated by the Legislature, the reimbursement to each political subdivision and to state agencies of at least fifty percent (50%) of the allowable salary and allowable tuition, living and travel expense incurred by law enforcement officers in attendance at approved training programs, provided said political subdivisions and state agencies do in fact adhere to the selection and training standards established by the board. The board shall authorize, but only from such funds authorized and appropriated by the Legislature, the direct funding of a part-time law enforcement officer training program. The board shall require the payment of a reasonable tuition fee to aid in funding the costs of administering the part-time law enforcement officer training program. Note: Reimbursement is authorized only for those agencies and subdivisions of the state who are in compliance with all provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers Training Program (LEOTP) Act to include those policies and procedures established by the board pursuant to the Act. A. The priority of reimbursement funding shall be toward the development of: 1. Basic training; 2. Refresher/equivalency training; and 3. In-service training programs. B. Reimbursement shall be allowable for officers in attendance at board-approved training programs established at such agencies or institutions as the board may deem appropriate. Contact the board staff for information on available programs. C. Employers are entitled to an additional reimbursement, herein after to be known as a “transfer reimbursement”, of training expenses from other law enforcement employers should their officer leave law enforcement employment within three (3) years after the date of his employment and immediately become employed by another governmental entity in a law enforcement capacity. 1. The “transfer reimbursement” shall be a proportionate share of the training expenses incurred. For the purposes of calculating the transfer reimbursement, transfer reimbursement expenses shall include the allowable tuition, salary and documented travel costs incurred while the officer in question was enrolled in a training course. Transfer reimbursement expenses do not include any related costs to your department such as replacement officer salaries or in-kind contributions. To determine the proportionate share of expenses incurred, total the Transfer reimbursement expenses. Subtract the monies reimbursed by the Board. Divide the remainder by 36. Multiply the product times the number of months remaining in the officer’s three-year service period [36 less the number of months the officer has served]. An example follows: Officer Jones was employed as a full-time law enforcement officer by the Sparta Police Department on November 1, 2015. He attended basic training and successfully completed basic training in March of 2016. During training he was paid at a rate of $9.00 per hour. Tuition for the basic course was $3,600.00 and the documented allowable travel expenses incurred were $817.50 [ten round-trips of 150 miles at $.545 per mile or the current rate at which state and federal employees are reimbursed for mileage]. He left full-time employment with Sparta P.D. on May 31, 2016. He began working as a full-time law enforcement officer with the Wabash Police Department on June 20, 2016. 2. For purposes of determining eligibility for the transfer reimbursement, immediate re-employment shall be defined as obtaining another full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law enforcement appointment within thirty days of termination and/or receipt of compensation for services, accrued personal leave or compensatory leave. D. Agencies must meet the following requirements in order to be eligible to receive reimbursement: 1. Agency must be an organization of the state or a political subdivision of the state; Salary [$9.00/hr x 480 hours (length of training)] = $4,320.00 Tuition = $3,600.00 Allowable travel costs (1,500 miles @ $.545/mile) = $817.50 T = Total transfer reimbursement expenses = $8,737.50 R = Reimbursement (Maximum) = $3,600.00 S = Number of months served = months P = Statutory 3-year period of service = months Transfer Reimbursement = [(T - R)/P](P-S) = [($8,737.50 – 3,600.00)/36](36-7) = 2. Officers attending training must be full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law enforcement officers; 3. Agency must have adhered to the selection and training standards established by the board; 4. All administrative requirements must have been completed pursuant to this Policy and Procedures Manual to include all forms completed in full; and 5. Agency must have settled all accounts with the institution or academy where training was conducted. E. For the duration of training, the academy or institution shall be the assigned place of duty. For the purposes of calculating the Standards and Training reimbursement, allowable costs of training are as follows: 1. The Board will establish the allowable training costs. Training costs shall be derived from subsistence and tuition expenses. The Board will set the allowable costs for both areas and will prorate allowable costs dependent upon the subsistence and tuition received by the student. 2. The authorized base salary of full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary law enforcement officers is eligible for reimbursement for the period of enrollment in training courses. Salary shall be computed based on the gross monthly salary of the most recent full month prior to graduation. Reimbursement will only include base compensation for a standard 40 hour week. Uniform allowance or other pay benefits will not be considered for reimbursement. Reimbursement will only be authorized for salaries paid for the performance of law enforcement duties. a. Officers who are not certified within one year for full-time status and two years for part-time status from their date of hire are not authorized to be paid a salary. Accordingly, the board will not reimburse any salaries paid under such circumstances. 3. Allowable travel expenses shall be determined by multiplying the standard state mileage rate times the mileage for one round trip. Agencies with more than one student enrolled in a course will be expected to car pool and will receive travel for one round trip. No travel reimbursement shall be authorized for employees of state agencies who are enrolled in training programs. 4. The board shall provide training reimbursement for required mandated training only if the training program completed satisfies the requirements. The board will designate the appropriate training program for certification purposes. If an applicant completes a course other than the designated course, the applicant will not be certified and the agency will not be reimbursed for training costs. 5. Only successfully completed board-approved training programs are allowable. The board will not reimburse the training costs of partially completed training or failed training. If the officer fails either the academic, skill areas, firearms or fitness programs, the board will not reimburse any costs of training. Note: Evaluate your officers and correct any weaknesses before enrolling them in the training program. You should consider withdrawing your officers from training if they have difficulty in achieving course requirements for any reason at any time. Officers may return after additional preparation to attempt the course requirements. 6. The priority of training reimbursement funds shall be for the completion of mandated training. Should funds become available, grand fathered officers who attend a board-approved training course may be reimbursed for training expenses. It is recommended that the agency contact the director prior to enrolling certified personnel in board-approved courses.